Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone spared jail after admitting tax fraud
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Former Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation on Oct 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone was spared an immediate prison sentence on Thursday after he pleaded guilty in a London court to misleading Britain’s tax authority about overseas assets worth more than £400 million (S$670 million).
Ecclestone agreed a civil settlement with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), under which he will pay £652.6 million covering tax, interest and penalties for 18 tax years between 1994 and 2022, prosecutor Richard Wright said.
The 92-year-old appeared at Southwark Crown Court and pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation
Ecclestone, accompanied by his wife Fabiana, spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his plea.
“I plead guilty,” he said.
Ecclestone admitted giving a misleading answer to HMRC at a July 2015 meeting.
He had said he had established only a single trust in favour of his daughters and was not a beneficiary or settlor of any other trust.
He was in fact the settlor and beneficiary of various trusts, including one which held a company that sent £416 million to a bank account in Singapore in 2010, HMRC said.
Judge Simon Bryan gave Ecclestone a 17-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
This means he will go to jail only if he commits another criminal offence during that time.
Ecclestone’s lawyer, Ms Clare Montgomery, told the court Ecclestone “did not know the true position” about whether he was the beneficiary or settlor of any other trust.
“He should have said ‘I don’t know’ rather than ‘No’,” Ms Montgomery said. She added that Ecclestone’s answer to HMRC was an “impulsive lapse of judgment”.
Ecclestone gave an unintelligible response to reporters as he left the court and got into a waiting Range Rover.
Mr Andrew Penhale, chief crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement: “All members of UK society, regardless of how wealthy or famous they are, must pay their taxes and be transparent and open with HMRC about their financial affairs.”
Mr Richard Las, chief investigation officer and director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: “Bernie Ecclestone has had ample time and numerous opportunities to take responsibility and be honest with HMRC about his tax affairs.
“Instead of taking these opportunities, he lied to HMRC and, as a result, we opened a criminal investigation.”
“This investigation has involved inquiries around the world and culminated with Bernie Ecclestone’s guilty plea to fraud.”
Ecclestone had attempted to stop the prosecution earlier in 2023, with his lawyers arguing that putting him on trial posed a serious risk to his life.
A cardiologist gave evidence that the stress of the trial meant that Ecclestone was “more likely to die than not during the trial”, according to a June ruling.
However, Judge Bryan said there was “no real and immediate threat to the life of Mr Ecclestone by reason of the trial process”.
The decision also states that Ecclestone paid around £250 million in income and capital gains tax to HMRC between 1999 and 2017.
Ms Montgomery had noted at a previous hearing in January that Ecclestone was charged shortly after he made “unpopular” comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone built the sport into a global empire with a cut-glass brand, but his career wasn’t without controversy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ecclestone, whose financial net worth has been estimated at some US$3 billion (S$4 billion), is widely credited with transforming F1 commercially.
His control of the sport developed from the sale of television rights in the 1970s, and he was chief executive of Formula One Group until January 2017.
The flamboyant former second-hand car salesman ran Formula One with an iron fist for more than four decades, building it into a global empire with a cut-glass brand.
But his career has not been without controversy.
Ecclestone paid US$100 million to the German authorities to end a high-profile bribery trial in 2014, which was linked to the sale of Formula One’s rights in 2006 and 2007.
Although he had faced a possible 10-year prison sentence if found guilty, many in the F1 paddock remained loyal.
“F1 is what it is thanks to Bernie Ecclestone, to the way he has built this sport over the past 35 years,” Mr Christian Horner, team principal at Red Bull, said at the time. “I think that without him, we would have big problems.” REUTERS, AFP
